Chinese reporter denied entry after newspaper attack

Taiwan has temporarily refused entry to a reporter for a Chinese state-run newspaper in retaliation for China's attacks on Taiwanese pro-independence businesses, an official said yesterday.

Taiwan's China policy decision-making body said it had "postponed for a week an entry visa issued to the People's Daily journalist" due to be assigned to Taipei.

"From the day the People's Daily printed its editorial attacking Taiwanese enterprises, we've repeatedly tried to adopt a softer approach, hoping to put an end to the event, but to no avail," an official of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.

"Instead, they ignored our efforts and even got worse," he said.

"Therefore we must send a clear signal to them," he said.

Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on May 24 that Beijing did not welcome Taiwanese businessmen who earned money in China while backing Taiwan's independence.

The People's Daily, together with several other Chinese media, joined the chorus when the editorial in its overseas edition lashed out at Shi Wen-long (許文龍), head of Taiwan's Chi Mei Group (奇美實業), who is a supporter of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The row escalated when a researcher at the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also suggested that Beijing could impose sanctions to prevent Taipei from moving toward independence.